Third Sunday Of Lent

These are tough and scary times.  I am glad you here in church or watching on-line despite the Corona Virus. Today we share our faith and fears together as we support one another.
What we are facing today is difficult.  We want to know when will this end! Will it impact me or my family?  Today we seek consolation in our faith, and we turn to our Lord. We know we aren’t alone. The Lord is always present with us.
Let us take a moment now to pray for everyone throughout the world who is dealing with this pandemic:
 
Jesus, during your ministry on Earth you showed your power and caring for all people. You freed them from their physical, mental, and spiritual ailments. Lord be with us now!  Let your people feel your calming spirit and loving touch. May your power of healing in mind, body and spirit be with us today.
Lord reduce our fear, anxiety, and feelings of isolation.  Let us know of your love and care. Let us have a sense of purpose in doing what we can to help others, and to protect ourselves and all from this disease.  Help us to reach beyond ourselves and help others through our presence, prayers, and actions.  Lord we ask your protection on all; bring health, and peace to our world.  Amen
 
A few weeks ago I was working on my homily and I felt the Lord pulling me in a direction to talk about our experience of feeling anxious and feeling like we do not belong.  Today I can certainly say:  God I got your message!!  Today we certainly feel anxious. We feel like we don’t belong in this situation.  We want to wave a magic wand and make it all go away. All of this is natural and God hears us cry out!
 
Our readings today are poignant and show us that people have felt anxious and isolated throughout history. Both in the reading from Exodus and in John’s Gospel, we find anxious people in places and situations where they certainly didn’t feel like they belonged.  The Israelites certainly didn’t feel like they belonged in the desert.  They had traveled from Egypt and encountered great hardship on their journey. They were anxious, hungry and thirsty and understandably wanted things to be different.
 
In the Gospel, the woman at the well was an outcast and shunned in her society. She was certainly anxious and knew she did not belong.
 
Like the woman at the well, and the Israelites, we all struggle especially at this time.  Jesus’ message for us today is the same as it was for the Israelites and the woman at the well  – we do belong!  We all belong to God. Jesus embraces all, especially those who are facing difficult situations or feel abandoned. Jesus calls all of us to rebirth and to himself. In this Lent we reflect on how God is speaking to us and aligning our will with His.
 
 The Samaritan woman at the well, an outcast, is the first person to whom Jesus openly reveals himself as the Messiah.  Although she certainly felt like she didn’t belong, as she encounters Jesus, her mind and heart are transformed from being suspicious and skeptical to open and receptive. This woman is transformed by her encounter with Jesus.  She came to understand that she did belong!  She belonged to Jesus.  She was called into relationship with God despite her past.  She was changed so much by her encounter that she put aside her feelings of not belonging.  Her transformation enabled her to reach out to the community that shunned her and being Jesus’ first evangelist brings them to Him who she has come to know as  Messiah!  She took the ultimate risk and shares her faith in Jesus with her community who also comes to believe.  They believe not just through her word but through their encounter with Jesus.  The Samaritan woman got it: God today is speaking to us in our feelings of anxiousness and of not belonging. 
 
Emulating Jesus, can we embrace and reach out to people who are scared, uncertain, or in need of help or a listening ear? Is there someone among us today who needs our help?  The stranger who asks for help; the classmate sitting alone. I was struck by a news story today of a young woman on her way into a grocery store who heard someone calling for help from their car.  She stopped and encountered an older couple who were afraid to go into the store because they were elderly and afraid to get sick.  They asked this women to purchase some items for them. Which she did.  Small things can mean so much in times like this.  We all can do something even if it is only a call to someone who may be feeling anxious or alone.
 
For our Penfield Hope volunteers, and myself, it is a privilege each time a new person arrives at our door seeking assistance. Can you imagine how hard it is to ask perfect strangers for help? These individuals certainly do not feel like they belong. In all times but especially at this time the mission of Jesus is our mission. How can we help walk and truly be with these individuals? How can we share that at times that we are in all in need, that we all are anxious and thirst? How can we enter into a meaningful dialogue?  It is our sincere hope that after our encounter, each person leaves us with a hopeful transformation in some aspect of their lives as well as a generous supply of food! In every encounter, I can assure you, those of us serving at Penfield Hope are transformed. Working together, we belong exactly where we are in this time and place.  I have a great fondness for Mr. Rogers he has a profound quote that he used when children felt anxious or afraid.  He would tell them to “look for the helpers” indeed there are helpers among us – in them and in God we find hope!
 
Let us take time to allow ourselves to listen and hear God speaking to us.  Let us place our trust in the Lord and ask Him for transformation of ourselves and our world. 
 
 The hopeful message that we hear today is that indeed in this Lent, amidst the trials and challenges we face, we are being transformed because we all belong to Christ!  God often brings us to places and situations that we don’t understand but God always has a plan and purpose. Let use this time to pray and help others, to be a catalyst.  Like the Israelites and the women at the well we belong exactly where we are even in these uncertain and trying times in our world, nation, and church.  We are called to support one another as the people of God. Let Lent be a time for us to come together and support each other despite our natural feelings of fear, unease, and uncertainty.
 
Will you allow this Lent to transform you, console you and come to a deeper understanding that you belong and are loved by God?